HYPERLOCAL NEWS HUB BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM

Company Hired to Stop Lick Creek Flooding Shows Plans

By Nicole Blum/MicroMemphis ReporterSeptember 30, 2011

Midtown residents say they've had enough.

After several storms left cars, homes and roads flooded, residents are asking the city if inadequate drainage facilities in the area could be the reason Lick Creek is flooding.

June Hurt, President of the Cooper-Young Community Association said, "the problem of flooding runs through all of Midtown. We want the city to take care of us and we want to keep our money in Midtown."

Lick Creek flows through Overton Park, near Watkins on the west, Hollywood on the east, and north to Jackson almost to Southern. A public meeting was held to address the issue.

Hunt said, "the city handed over the issue to an outside source, Tetra Tech. They came in to look at the problem and the Lick Creek Coalition meeting is for the public to confront the council and Tetra Tech. Now is the time to hold them accountable."

After a presentation by Tetra Tech, the company shared its project ideas to solve the issue. The Director of City Engineering, John Cameron, is telling the public that the problem will be resolved.

Cameron said, "Be patient... if it rains in the near future, there will be flooding. It's a process that could take a while to get underway."

Tetra Tech has nine projects for the city to review and the basin report said the proposed projects could cost between 20 and 30 million dollars.

For now, Cameron recommends residents not dump garbage in the sewage drains, bag all grass clippings and leaves, and also keep garbage off the streets.